Oracle

Part 10

Smiling Elison patted the man's black hair before leaving his side. He gently tapped at Jaspar's hand, the blind boy stood and took his hand again, this time holding his hand. Elison led him out of the room before shutting the door so the noise from downstairs wouldn't wake the man. He walked them back to the room and pushed Jaspar in.

The boy stood looking very lost as Elison closed and locked the door again. The room smelt faintly of soap but all evidence that Jaspar had thrown up was gone. There was also a fresh set of clothes on the bed.

"Justice left you some more clothes," Elison commented with a fond voice, walking over to pick them up. Jaspar calmly took the robe off, holding it in his arms tightly in front of him.

They were a little big for Jaspar, really Leo was a closer size to the slender man, Justice being fairly tall, but Leo didn't have many clothes which would make a rape assault victim feel safe.

Justice had never been an assault victim but his leg had made him feel very self-aware of himself for a long time. As such Justice was one of the few of John's boys who had never spent time in the brothel. Most had to agree to work there for at least a month in their contact. John thought it gave him some character. Most of his clients enjoyed the personality types it inspired, like Leo's nature.

"What did you mean by he left his leg on?" Jaspar blurted out, now that it was safe to talk without waking the man up.

Elison hummed softly, taking the robe of Jaspar and tossing it to the side. "Arms up," he ordered, before putting a large dark blue t-shirt onto Jaspar. "Justice has a prosthetic leg. He shouldn't really sleep in it, but he was on the night shift last night. Waking up early probably meant he was still exhausted and forgot to take it off before falling to sleep," he commented gently.

"Oh," Jaspar said quietly, obviously wanting to ask another question but too nervous or scared to answer it.

Elison smiled wryly, not the man could see it. "Yes, he's a donor like you. That is to say, his leg was taken from him," Elison commented gently. "John hired him from the middle house."

"He sounded strong and together," Jaspar mused out loud, his expression one of surprise. Elison past him the sleeping pants and Jaspar put them on. "How long has he been working here?" he asked with a slightly curious tone.

Elison lifted an eyebrow surprised by the question. It was a little personal to answer without Justice's permission. The fact he had a prosthetic leg was common knowledge, as was the fact he was a donor and therefore acceptable to tell other people. But lengths of time? That was too much detail.

"Long enough," he settled with, something else passing through his mind. "How much time have you spent with non-humans?" he asked seriously. Jaspar didn't seem to know many customs and social rules considering he was a seer and therefore half in the otherworld anyway.

"Not long," Jaspar admitted, now curling in his new pyjamas. "My parents kept me pretty sheltered," he whispered softly. His stance made him look very small, the baggy clothes drowning him out and he looked tired somehow.

Elison gave him a look of pity, reaching to put a hand on his shoulders in half a hug when it occurred to him again that Jaspar couldn't actually see him. Elison knew Jaspar would be thinking of the little good that had done him at the moment. It was a hard thing with seers. They were valuable and there was always a danger either way. Keeping them hidden meant they were more vulnerable to the supernatural creatures wanting to use them. Allowing them to interact with community increased the chances of them being kidnapped, especially when they were still young.

"Okay, we'll work on etiquette later," Elison mused, "For now, try not to ask personal questions about people. It's not well looked on," he warned gently, pushing Jaspar onto the soft bed gently. "Sit up straight for a moment," he ordered. "I have a painkiller to inject into you."

"I'll remember that," Jaspar promised, sounding tired. "Does it have to be an injection?" Jaspar asked, a slight unease entering in his voice.

Elison chuckled, grabbing the supplies. "Unless you'd rather nothing?" Jaspar shook his head and quickly offered his right arm out to Elison. In many ways revealing how much in pain he actually was if he was willing to let Elison do this without a fight given everything which had happened.

Jaspar shivered at the needle broke his skin but his shoulder slumped as the medicine entered his bloodstream. He wavered slightly and Elison quickly cleaned up, putting the needle in the sharps box Justice had also left in the room before moving back to the bed. Jaspar had already taken this as permission to crawl into the bed, though he was diagonally in the bed and still trying to work out how to lay.

Elison slipped into the bed himself and shifted Jaspar so he was in the bed properly. Jaspar moving oddly obediently as Elison tucked him in. Elison awkwardly ruffled his hair. "Sleep for a little longer," he commented softly.

Jaspar hummed, apparently already drifting off into a deep sleep. Elison lay on his side, watching the young man for a few moments before falling back to sleep himself. He needed a few more hours of rest himself before facing the world and everything he had to get done. He had people he had to talk to about his new situation and also how his demon had been reacting lately.